


the science of flirting

by 101places



Series: aos pride [4]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Almost Kiss, Autistic Character, Bisexual Female Character, Bisexual Jemma Simmons, Bisexual Skye | Daisy Johnson, F/F, Flirting, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Humor, Post-Episode: s01e07 The Hub, Pre-Relationship, autistic Jemma Simmons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-09
Updated: 2019-06-09
Packaged: 2020-04-23 05:31:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19144537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/101places/pseuds/101places
Summary: After the incident at the Hub, Skye takes it upon herself to teach Simmons how to flirt more effectively.( AKA : just gals being pals and flirting in secret at 3am )





	the science of flirting

**Author's Note:**

> YOU can be bi and YOU can be bi and YOU can be bi!
> 
> i didn't really plan to write this, it just kind of happened. i'm not upset though, its cute shit & i could do with writing more cute shit tbh. i also didnt intend to mention autism & its barely there but tbh? simmons in this whole fanfic is autism culture so im keeping the autism tags in
> 
> kudos/comments are always appreciated! hope u enjoy!

Skye hadn’t meant to come on to Simmons. It had just happened. _Really_.

It had all started so innocently. After Simmons had displayed an astoundingly bad example of flirting when they were at the Hub, Skye had decided to take it upon herself to teach her the dos and don’ts of flirting- it was an art that Skye liked to think she was pretty good at, so who better to teach the squirrely little scientist?

Getting Simmons alone proved to be more difficult than she was expecting, but eventually she managed it. It was late, and everyone else had long-since turned in for the night. Honestly, Skye wasn’t expecting Simmons to still be awake, but there she was, skipping around the lab as if it was still the middle of the day.

She watched her for a few moments. Whatever Simmons was working on, she was completely caught up in it. There was something nice about seeing her so bouncy and happy- ever since the Chitauri virus there had been something a bit off about her. It was comforting to see her starting to go back to her usual self.

Deciding that she’d observed for long enough, and that just standing and watching from a distance for much longer would cross over into ‘creepy’ territory, Skye approached the lab, knocking gently on the glass to alert Simmons of her presence before sliding the doors open.

Simmons looked up from her work, sending Skye a confused smile. “Skye, what are you doing down here?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” Skye replied, looking over at Simmons work curiously. She couldn’t understand any of it, but it sure looked neat. “It’s, like, _really_ late.”

Simmons rolled her eyes. “Please, Skye, it’s only-” She checked her clock then frowned. “...3am.”

Skye smirked at Simmons apparent embarrassment.

“Well, I need to wait up a bit longer for my experiment to produce results.” Simmons explained, before shifting the focus. “Anyway, what are you doing awake?”

Skye shrugged, “My sleep schedule is basically non-existent.”

Simmons hummed, “That’s not surprising. We are constantly crossing multiple timezones, which isn’t exactly known for being particularly helpful to one’s circadian rhythm- and I can’t help but notice how much caffeine you take in on a daily basis. That isn’t particularly helpful either. If you’d like, I could help you come up with a schedule to assist you to return to a more beneficial sleep-wake cycle.”

“Maybe later.” Skye spoke with a smile. “I was actually looking for you. I wanted to offer my help with something.”

“Oh?” Simmons looked at her expectantly.

“I’ve been thinking about that… _incident_ at the Hub,” Skye noticed how Simmons face dropped, but continued, “And I realised something. Simmons, you don’t know how to flirt, do you?”

Simmons scoffed. “Skye, _please_ . I may be a scientist, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t have any experience with the romantic world. In fact, I have had _many_ boyfriends in the past.”

“Okay, but you complimented Sitwell’s _head_.”

“I panicked! He doesn’t have _hair_ , Skye. He’s bald!”

It took everything in Skye not to start laughing right there. “You said that you like men that are about your hei-”

“It’s not _my_ fault that he isn’t tall!”

“What does _that_ have to do with anything?”

“You know,” Simmons spoke with conviction, “Men like it when you compliment their hair and their height.”

Skye gave her a strange look. “Simmons… please tell me you don’t just re-use the same two lines whenever you try to flirt with people.”

Simmons frowned. “Is that not how one is supposed to flirt?”

“No? I’m not even sure if that _counts_ as flirting?”

“Oh.” Simmons looked as if her whole world had been shaken.

“Don’t worry,” Skye spoke with a grin, “That’s why I’m here. Professor Skye can teach you everything that you need to know about flirting.”

Simmons seemed skeptical. “I appreciate the offer, but are you sure that you’re up to the task?”

“Trust me, I’m sure.”

Simmons led Skye over to the chairs and the pair sat down. Skye span on the chair for a moment and rolled it back and forwards a little, always happy to have an excuse to mess about with these amazing pieces of furniture, before turning her attention to her pupil.

“Okay, first of all: You can’t just fall back on lines like that. Maybe it’ll work sometimes, but most of the time? No.”

Skye was about to continue on with her next point, but stopped when she caught sight of what Simmons was doing. “What… what are you doing?”

Simmons looked up from the notebook she was scribbling into, blinking innocently. “Taking notes.”

Skye stared at Simmons silently for a few moments. There wasn’t actually anything wrong with her taking notes, so in the end she just shook her head fondly and continued. “For your first piece of advice, if you’re going with compliments pick something that you _actually_ appreciate about them. Use honesty.”

Simmons wrote down what Skye said, then asked, “Do you have an example?”

Skye hummed, then leaned forwards and spoke with a light, breezy tone, “Wow! Your eyes are so beautiful, Simmons- I love how much attention you’re paying to me. It makes me feel so _appreciated_ , you know?”

“Well, you are teaching me. It is rather necessary for a student to pay attention to their lecturer.” Simmons explained, but her light blush didn’t go unnoticed by Skye. “Though- I don’t particularly understand what the difference is between flirting and typical compliments?”

“It’s the intent,” Skye explained, sitting back, “When you flirt you’re out to get something, but when you compliment you’re just saying it so it’s said.”

“But that’s not always true. I’ve seen you complimenting Agent Ward in an attempt to get him to make your training less intense.”

“Sex appeal, then.” Skye decided. “Which brings us to the next part of our lesson: physicality.”

Simmons groaned. “I am not very good at physicality. Body language rather gets away from me.”

“That’s okay. That’s why I’m here to teach you.” Skye smiled. “One of the most important aspects of flirting is eye contact.”

Simmons groaned again. “That’s the _worst_ part. Where am I supposed to look? People have two eyes, Skye! I can’t look at them both at the same time!”

Skye blinked. She hadn’t expected Simmons to find difficulty with that aspect. “You’re overthinking it.”

But it was too late. Simmons had started and now she was going to finish. “It’s ridiculous that something like eye contact is considered so necessary in social interaction when such a large percentage of the population has difficulty with it. If you don’t make enough eye contact it’s considered suspicious, but if you make too much it is also considered suspicious. Neurotypicals just cannot make their minds up about it! Besides, isn’t eye contact simply too personal? They say that eyes are supposed to be the windows to the soul- I don’t particularly believe in something like a soul, though I will admit to find the concept somewhat fascinating- consciousness as a whole is really rather interesting, I wrote a paper on it a few years ago. You know, the body ignites consciousness and is necessary to our continued existence, but there are theories about how consciousness could be separated from the body in some trans-humanist circles. I have actually wondered for a while whether you would be interested in trans-humanism, it seems as though it combines some of your interests and ideals, though it can be controversial so I wasn’t sure whether or not it would be wise to bring it up, and… oh. That wasn’t what I meant to say.”

Skye hadn’t been able to catch up with the entire latter half of what Simmons had said. “How tired are you?” She asked seriously.

Simmons waved her off. “I’m fine. You were saying about eye contact?”

Skye gave Simmons a steady look, but decided to continue. “...Just that you need to make a lot of it.” Noticing Simmons skeptical expression, she sighed. “I’ll give you another example.”

Skye leaned forwards again, making eye contact with Simmons and fluttering her eyes. “I’m really glad that we’re spending more time together. I really enjoy your company, Simmons.”

That light blush was back on Simmons face and she looked away again. Skye took that as a success.

“There’s more to physicality than just eye contact,” Skye continued with her lesson, “Angling your body towards your target, drawing attention to your lips by licking or chewing on them, playing with your hair- all of that makes you seem more alluring.”

Simmons quickly noted down Skye’s advice, then looked over her notes. “Do you have any recommended reading?”

“You could try WikiHow.” Skye joked, but as Simmons began to diligently write it down she quickly added: “I’m kidding.”

Simmons set her pen down and nodded. “Okay. Do you think that’s enough information?”

“Probably.” Then, Skye had an idea. “But there’s only really one way to tell for sure…”

Simmons practically had stars in her eyes. “Ah! A test. Go ahead, I am sure that I will impress you with my knowledge.”

“I meant more of a practical demonstration, but sure, we can call it a test.” Skye stifled a laugh.

Skye leant forwards. “Say, cutie, what are you doing in the lab so late at night?”

“Pet names were not on the syllabus,” Simmons remarked quietly.

“It’s an advanced technique that I didn’t think you were ready for.” Skye spoke in a similarly low tone, “But you have to be prepared to work with wild cards.”

Simmons brow furrowed as she tried to think of what to say. Instead of speaking, she leaned back, fiddling with her hair and glancing over at Skye every now and then. Ah, Skye thought, the coy approach.

“I often stay up late to do research.”

“Oh? Have you ever considered staying up late to _do_ something else?” Skye wiggled her eyebrows.

Simmons blushed, but aside from that didn’t lose composure. Skye was genuinely impressed- she’d _totally_ expected that to do it.

“I think you’re moving too fast. After all, we barely know each other. Perhaps we could have a drink first?”

Skye grinned, wheeling back on her chair and grabbing the first beaker of liquid she saw before wheeling back, “Sounds like a plan.”

“Don’t actually drink that,” Simmons lowered her voice again, “Ingesting even just a mouthful would leave you with some rather gruesome mouth and throat sores at best.”

“I shall keep that in mind.” Skye replied, placing the beaker on a counter.

Simmons continued to play with her hair, “You know, I am very happy that you joined our team. You’re different from me- I don’t think you could _be_ more different from me if you tried- but… even though we haven’t known one another for particularly long, I can’t imagine my life without you. And, even if I could, I don’t think that I would want to.”

Touched, Skye looked up at Simmons with wide eyes.

“I wasn’t sure if we would get along when we first met. Of course, I instantly thought of you as rather beautiful, but there is more to a person than simple appearances. You don’t have the same SHIELD background as the rest of us, and I worried that our differences would prevent us from becoming close, but really, all they have done is bring us together.”

Skye’s eyes dropped to Simmons lips.

“You may not have a PhD like Fitz and I. You may not be able to kill a man with your bare hands like Ward and May. You may not have the power of a high security clearance like Coulson. But you bring something else to our team, something just as important- and I don’t just mean your hacking, though obviously it would be blatantly wrong of me to claim that your hacking _isn’t_ important.”

Skye could feel herself leaning in closer to Simmons.

“I think… if I had to pin it down, it would be your heart. It’s different to the rest of us, but that… that isn’t a bad thing. I think the way that you see the world is beautiful.”

Their faces were very close to each other by now, to the point where Skye could feel Simmons’ breath.

“...I really am glad that we are friends. You… mean the world to me.”

Just as Skye decided to close the gap between them, they were interrupted by a shrill alarm, throwing them both out of the moment and sending Simmons darting across the lab to check on her experiment.

In her chest, Skye could feel her heart beating heavily as Simmons excitedly info-dumped about the results of her experiment, seemingly oblivious of what had just passed between them.

When she was finished explaining something about molecular density, or… _something_ sciency like that, she turned back to Skye and look over at her with those big, innocent eyes of hers.

“Did I pass the test, Professor Skye?”

“Yeah. Yeah, let’s say that. You’re _really_ good at the whole bluffing thing. If you’d pulled that out with Sitwell things would’ve gone way differently.” Skye joked lightly.

“It wasn’t really bluffing.” Simmons spoke absently, putting away her equipment, “You said to use honesty while complimenting.”

Skye looked away to hide how flattered she was. “Well… you did well. You graduated Flirting 101, congrats.”

Simmons smiled smugly. “That’s no surprise. I haven’t come across a class that I have been unable to pass.”

Skye laughed softly. “Yeah, yeah. Genius with 100 PhDs, I get it.”

Simmons rolled her eyes, but didn’t correct Skye.

When Simmons was finished clearing away her equipment, the pair made their way back to their bunks, wishing each other sweet dreams before parting ways. As Skye laid back on her bed and stared up at the ceiling in the darkness, she found herself able to think only one thought:

 _Dear lord, am I more gay than I thought_.


End file.
